tag:scottgant.com,2014:/feedScott Gant2017-02-21T03:22:37-08:00Scott Ganthttp://scottgant.comSvbtle.comtag:scottgant.com,2014:Post/linux-it-s-not-just-for-nerds-anymore-but-it-helps-to-be-a-nerd2017-02-21T03:22:37-08:002017-02-21T03:22:37-08:00Linux. It's not just for nerds anymore...but it helps to be a nerd.<p><img src="http://i.imgur.com/4uVAd5h.png" alt="Ubuntu"><br>
While I stated in my last post that I was trying out Arch Linux, I’m about to pull the trigger on a new Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition that comes with Ubuntu 16.04 LTS, and I think I'l that. I may wipe the drive and install Gnome Ubuntu so all the Unity cruft isn’t on the system, but that’s it. The great thing about using the Developer Edition on the XPS is that you can install any flavor of Linux you want and it won’t void the warranty from Dell. </p>
<p>But beyond that, I have an old 2010 Mac Mini here. It only came with 4gigs of RAM, and when it was finally updated to Sierra, there was VERY little RAM left to do anything, with the system taking up so much. To run a Plex server was painful because it would run out of memory and start hitting the swap pretty hard. So I said, screw it and wiped everything and installed Ubuntu Server 16.04 LTS (Long Term Support). It now sits with all the services running (Plex, Transmission, SMB server, SSH, VPN) at 450MBs</p>
<p><img src="http://i.imgur.com/Jr556Hk.png" alt="ubuserv"><br>
As you can see, there is plenty of RAM left without all the UI stuff that isn’t needed for a server. Plus, it was relatively easy to set up…and kinda fun (well, for me at least). It certainly gave this seven-year-old piece of hardware a new lease on life. </p>
<p>Again, I’m still moving toward a more diverse digital life instead of putting all my eggs in one basket. Only a few years ago we were a TOTAL Apple household. Macs, iPhones, iPads, Apple TV, Airport Extreme. Now, the only Apple thing I have is the Mac Mini, but it’s running Linux. I’m replacing the Apple TV with an Nvidia Shield. Replacing the Airport Extreme with a different router (don’t get me started on how hard it was to find a router that fits my needs…and I’m still not totally sure which one to get, but it’s getting narrowed down). I just don’t want EVERYTHING to be dependent on one company or service….be it Apple or Microsoft or Google. Diversity is the key. </p>
tag:scottgant.com,2014:Post/delving-back-into-linux-again2016-12-13T07:48:49-08:002016-12-13T07:48:49-08:00Delving back into linux...again...<p><img src="http://i.imgur.com/7CfCKVU.png" alt="Arch Linux"><br>
So, I’m pretty platform agnostic. I’ve used just about every OS under the sun at one time or another, from CP/M to DOS to Mac System 6 through Mac OSX (now just Mac OS), to OS/2 to AmigaDOS to Windows 3, 95, 98, NT, XP and now 10. I’ve been dabbling in Linux off and on since it first came out. Seriously, I had it up and running in like the first 8 months of it’s inception. </p>
<p>While I’ve enjoyed my return to Windows which I haven’t used since the early days of XP (having installed Windows 10 with a new computer build back in spring of 2015…having skipped over Windows Vista, 7 and 8), I’ve always felt more comfortable with a Unix or “Unix-like” OS. I just know where everything is, plus still know the commands to get around…even without a GUI (this is Unix! I know this!). I’ve played around with the various popular distributions of Linux, and the last time I dived head first into this OS, Gentoo was the “distro-de-jour” that everyone was loving. But I went back to Windows because the video games I enjoyed were Windows-Only.</p>
<p>Now I’m back. And while I’ve played around a bit with Ubuntu and Mint, I decided to try out <a href="https://www.archlinux.org/">Arch Linux</a>. Arch isn’t too far removed from how Gentoo was, where you build it up from the ground from scratch. It’s not run by a single entity, like Ubuntu is, but from a very large community, which I like. It has a very detailed installation process that involves building it up piece by piece. Now here’s where I cheated….</p>
<p>I did that before with Gentoo. I know the ends-and-outs with building a system up from scratch. Granted, this was about 12 years ago that I did the Gentoo thing, but still. I like the concept of Arch. I like their pacman package handler better than something like apt-get. What I didn’t want to have to go through is doing the step by step installation…again. Maybe it’s because I’m old now and I just want to get in there and start playing around. Either way, there are a few alternatives to installing Arch, and the one I picked was <a href="https://antergos.com/">Antergos</a>. It has an automated installation, that figures out everything you have on your system and installs the desktop environment of your choice (Cinnamon, in my case). Once it’s installed, it’s Arch Linux…for all intent and purposes. Now, I know some purists out there will say that no, it’s not Arch, but it is. Any problems I’ve had I had resolved by going to the Arch forums and support sites, not Antergos forums…which are really non-existent. </p>
<p>I’ve been enjoying it. Sure, it took a while to configure everything to where I like it, but once you have it, it’s there. It’s also kept very up-to-date since Arch is a “rolling release”, meaning it’s the concept of frequently delivering updates to the OS and installed applications. I prefer this as you’re out there on the cutting edge of things, and while this can get you into trouble if a new update breaks something, I still prefer it to the point releases. </p>
<p>For instance, I recently tried out LInux Mint 18, which is the latest version. It’s still back on Kernel 4.4 with it’s install. Sure, you can manually go in and download the latest kernel and get it running, with Arch, you get it right away. When doing a uname -r, I get ‘linux 4.8.13-1’…which in only a little while will be 4.9 I’m sure, since Linus Torvalds announced it’s out in the wild. Do I need all the new features in the latest and greatest kernel? Other than the security updates and fixes, not really. It’s not enabling any hardware that’s not already working on my system. I just like knowing I’m running the latest. I know, I’m weird. </p>
<p>If I get a new laptop soon (looking at a Thinkpad, depending on any deals I can get), I’m putting Arch on it. Though, in this day and age I may think about putting <a href="https://www.qubes-os.org/">Qubes OS</a> on it. </p>
tag:scottgant.com,2014:Post/what-exactly-is-a-photograph2014-11-09T04:00:58-08:002014-11-09T04:00:58-08:00What Exactly Is a Photograph?<p><img src="http://i.imgur.com/J6hOzxu.jpg" alt="Bubbles"><br>
There has been a debate lately on “what constitutes a photograph” and “faking it”, meaning how much manipulation can you do to a picture before it transitions from a photo to something like a painting. We’re in a period where Photoshop and other programs can take a photo and pretty much do anything you want with it. You can start with a blank slate and build a picture from scratch (as any matte painting artist working in the film industry will tell you), or you can take an existing picture and massage it into something completely different.</p>
<p>I recently watched a <a href="http://teamcoco.com/video/serious-jibber-jabber-04-jack-white">Conan O’brien video where he had a long, one-on-one conversation with the musician Jack White.</a> During the interview, Mr. White was commenting about how musicians today can use software such as Pro-Tools and massage a song into something that you can’t really get live. Such as if you can’t sing in tune, there’s always a way to bring your voice into tune via software. He then commented that photographers can do anything with Photoshop instead of how they did it before computers. He implied that it was better “back then” than it is today because photography was, for some reason, more pure before Photoshop.</p>
<p>He said “If you’re going to call yourself a photographer now….you have a big monster hanging out in front of you (Photoshop) that can make you cheat on everything. If I show you a photograph and it’s beautiful, 3 or 4 years ago it was “who took that photo, how did it happen, how did he capture that moment”. And now: “it’s probably fake; it’s probably altered to look that good.”</p>
<p>I’m not sure how versed Jack White is in the photography industry, but he brings up an interesting thing. He seems to be like most people today who know about programs like Photoshop. The know that people can do the things to pictures and movies digitally to where you can make anything you want. I’m sure that the first paragraph in this post was something that many people already knew. They’ve heard of Photoshop and “airbrushing” and other techniques, even if they’ve never actually seen it. But having said that, I’m not sure how much they know that photography has ALWAYS been about manipulation of the image. Whether it was in the darkroom or in Lightroom, people have been futzing around with photos since it’s inception. You’d be amazed at the amount of work Ansel Adams had to go through to get a decent negative and print. It became such a complex issue that he wrote a series of books about it, which became the cornerstone of film photography. If he would have just “captured the moment” in camera, then just print it as is, they would have looked terrible. Especially one of his most iconic photos, Moonrise Hernandez, for example.</p>
<p>Okay, the pubic knows about Photoshop. Some may even assume that most everything is “fake” today. But what’s frustrating is that, to me, it doesn’t really matter. So what? If I do an extensive retouching or manipulation for a client’s portrait, I’m doing so to make the portrait look better. My job is to make pretty pictures. That’s what I endeavor to do. Yes, there’s a line that every photographer and retoucher have to draw for themselves as to what they’ll do and won’t. You literally can do anything in a picture now. What sets one photographer or retoucher apart today is restraint. Lack of restraint is what is giving the industry a bad name. Go to any grocery store and look at the magazines while in the check-out isle. The covers of those magazines have been manipulated so much, the poor people on the covers have plastic skin. That’s going to far. If you can tell something has been retouched, it’s too far.</p>
<p>When I do a retouch and people look at it and can’t tell what I’ve done, yet the image looks good, then I’ve done my job correctly. It’s still a picture. It’s still an image that people can look at and hopefully enjoy. Does it matter, in the end, how it was made?</p>
tag:scottgant.com,2014:Post/apples-smartwatch2014-06-20T07:00:07-07:002014-06-20T07:00:07-07:00Apple's Smartwatch<p><a href="http://i.imgur.com/B53aW0F.jpg"><img src="http://i.imgur.com/B53aW0F.jpg" alt="sillywatch"></a></p>
<p>Other’s have had smartwatches, Samsung for instance. Others will have them before Apple. Being first obviously doesn’t matter, or else they’d be setting the world on fire. It’s getting it <em>right</em> that matters in the end.</p>
<p>From what I can see at this point in time, Apple is the one that can pull it all together with their entire eco-system in Yosemite and iOS 8 with Continuity and HomeKit/Healthkit etc. Google comes close to this for sure, but they don’t control an entire eco-system of hardware/software…by which I mean control everything. They have to rely (for now) on third-party partners who may or may not have other agendas (I’m looking at you, Samsung).</p>
<p>Will Apple get it right? Dunno. But I think they have the best shot. We’ll see what shakes out a year from now.</p>
tag:scottgant.com,2014:Post/my-trip-to-the-twit-chatrooms2014-06-19T11:24:54-07:002014-06-19T11:24:54-07:00My trip to the TWiT chatrooms<p><a href="http://i.imgur.com/p99aEni.jpg"><img src="http://i.imgur.com/p99aEni.jpg" alt="This is why we can't have nice things"></a></p>
<p>I like tech. I’ve always liked computers and gadgets and technology in general. I like tech podcasts too. Podcasts are a major part of my life, as I have a long, three hour drive every morning, that I can listen to a wide variety of podcasts centered on my favorite subject. One of the largest networks in that genre is the <a href="http://twit.tv">TWiT network</a>. I’ve been an admirer of Leo Laporte since he was “Dev Null” on MSNBC’s <em>The Site</em> back in the late ‘90’s, and then later on TechTV. I liked how Leo presented everything, was always friendly, never talked down to anyone, and got into some pretty cool things (such as building a Linux box on-air). </p>
<p>Leo now has a media empire with TWiT that he built basically from scratch in a small studio in Petaluma, California. There are several shows on his network I listen to every week. <em>This Week in Tech</em>, <em>Macbreak Weekly</em>, <em>This Week in Google</em>, <em>Security Now</em> and others. Each of these shows are recorded “live”…meaning that they live stream the show on the TWiT website as it’s recorded. During the show, they have an IRC chatroom going so people can watch and comment live. It’s quite engaging and Leo and his guests refer to it all the time. </p>
<p>I normally listen to the shows the day after they’re recorded, so I’m usually not watching it live. But this past weekend I decided to mosey over to the chat rooms during the live broadcast of their flagship show, <em>This Week in Tech</em>. </p>
<p>So I fired up my IRC client of choice, <a href="http://www.codeux.com/textual/">Textual</a>, put in the address to TWiT, and off I went. There were more than 600 people in the chat when I joined, and later I learned sometimes it gets so packed that there is spill-over to another channel. I also noticed the channel rules up in the Topic of the room, so I clicked them and was taken to their <a href="http://wiki.twit.tv/wiki/IRC_Chat">rather onerous set of rules</a>. Such as:</p>
<blockquote class="large">
<p>Keep chat conversation at a family friendly level, as there are a wide range of ages in our chat. Self-censorship of swearing is not considered “family friendly”.</p>
<p>No offensive references to a person or group by race, religion, gender, or orientation.</p>
<p>Do not “hit on” the hosts or guests on camera. This includes comments on physical appearance, especially for female hosts or guests.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The list of rules goes on, but when I read that I knew right away they had to put all that in there because they’ve had people come in only to disrupt the channel, make lurid comments on the female guests and hosts, and be general all-around jerks. You know…trolls.</p>
<p>So anyway, I’m sitting there in the chat room and listening to the live stream, and sure enough, about halfway through the show, someone pops up in the chat and calls one of the guests on the show, <a href="https://twitter.com/jolieodell">Jolie O'Dell</a> a “c#nt”. Jolie seemed to take it in stride, and even laughed it off. But really? <em>Really?</em> Heaven forbid there should be a smart and highly opinionated person like Jolie speaking her mind without someone coming in that just <em>has</em> to show her what they think of her! How <em>dare</em> she speak her mind!</p>
<p>And right there, I knew this is why we can’t have nice things.</p>
tag:scottgant.com,2014:Post/holden-catchfire2014-06-19T11:23:35-07:002014-06-19T11:23:35-07:00Holden Catch-Fire<p>Silly me. When I first heard of the new AMC show <a href="http://www.amctv.com/shows/halt-and-catch-fire"><em>Halt and Catch Fire</em></a>, it was on a podcast, and I heard it as “Holden Catch-Fire”. I pictured in my head a new show about a Native American who’s first name was inspired by the main character in <em>The Catcher in the Rye</em>. </p>
<p>Meh, I still think my idea could work….</p>
tag:scottgant.com,2014:Post/dont-tell-me-what-to-do2014-06-17T08:33:49-07:002014-06-17T08:33:49-07:00Don't tell me what I can't do!<p><a href="https://svbtleusercontent.com/9s7u2hwaq94raq.jpg"><img src="https://svbtleusercontent.com/9s7u2hwaq94raq_small.jpg" alt="19155_311867039274_311861974274_3405925_4171252_n.jpg"></a></p>
<p>If you like something, if you have a hobby, if you are trying something out in your life…there will always be someone waiting to tell you you’re doing it wrong. </p>
<p>Ever read a story about people learning the Klingon language? The forum following the story will be filled with people proclaiming how this is such a waste of time. “Why not go outside? Go do something constructive? You’re such a loser” will be scattered throughout the comments. </p>
<p>If you say you like a particular computer platform, people will come out of the woodwork to tell you how much it sucks, and how much better <em>their</em> system is. Don’t even start talking about operating systems, else you’ll get a lecture from all corners on how you’re totally wrong for using it. </p>
<p>Are you trying a new diet, and it’s working for you, and you feel really good about yourself? Don’t say this on the Internet. Just post that in a forum or Facebook and people (who are not doctors or dietitians, by the way) will tell you that you’re totally doing it wrong, and how unhealthy it is. </p>
<p>These attitudes are, I believe, slowly destroying the Internet. There is <em>so</em> much negativity and cynicism online, that a simple note of positivity gets beaten down by everyone. Why can’t we just let people like what they like? Do we <em>really</em> need to put down what others like to make us feel better about what <em>we</em> like? Plus, it begins a chilling effect for people who want to just chat about their interests. </p>
<p>And it doesn’t just happen on forums. Some tech-famous people will tell you what you’re doing (or not doing) is wrong. <a href="http://boingboing.net/2010/04/02/why-i-wont-buy-an-ipad-and-think-yo.html">Cory Doctorow</a> comes to mind with this I-don’t-do-this-and-neither-should-you attitude. Cory’s a great guy. A great writer. And he has a big following and is a wonderful advocate for the <a href="http://www.eff.org_">EFF</a> and Open Source software. Look up “Internet Activist” and you’ll probably get a picture of Cory Doctorow. But don’t tell me what to do, Cory. And guess what, for everything Cory does in his life, there are many people telling <em>him</em> he’s doing it all wrong. </p>
<blockquote class="large">
<p>“Why do you even use a computer? You know how damaging that is to the environment?” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Or:</p>
<blockquote class="large">
<p>“You shouldn’t use the Internet at all, it will only disconnect you to the world.” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Or even:</p>
<blockquote class="large">
<p>“Why are you using a Lenovo? Don’t you know those are made by the Chinese government? Do you know every chip in that laptop and know <em>everything</em> that it does? How do you know one of those chips aren’t a keylogger that phones home to China?” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>The best I’ve read recently was on Reddit, unfortunately it was deleted. Paraphrased it said: </p>
<blockquote class="large">
<p>“If you’re such a lover of open-source software, why didn’t <em>you,</em> Cory Doctorow, catch the OpenSSL bug that had been there for two years? The source code was right there! You <em>literally</em> yell at us about trusting the code since it’s all open source, and yet we have this debacle.” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>I’m sure Cory chuckled when he read comments like that, and I’m also sure he learned long ago that you can’t reason with these people. No matter what you say, they’ll move the goal-posts further away, as they keep proclaiming they’re right. </p>
<p>The sad thing is, these aren’t trolls in the traditional sense. These are people that honestly believe they know best and want to let you know that it’s <em>you</em> that’s wrong. Again, it’s stifling intelligent conversations, as people are afraid to say anything without someone jumping down their throats. Some can let that just slide off their backs, but others (myself included) just throw up their hands. </p>
<p>As usual, the great Randall Munroe’s <a href="http://xkcd.com">XKCD</a> perfectly encapsulates the people with this attitude:</p>
<p><a href="http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/duty_calls.png"><img src="http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/duty_calls.png" alt="duty calls"></a></p>